Web app redesign project: What are the steps?

There are many reasons for changing your website mobile application: it’s been years since you haven’t made any upgrades; you’re tired of looking at it; it no longer reflects your company’s image; you’ve changed your commercial positioning… The most common mistake is to view the redesign as a paint job over what you already have, or just as a simple change of graphic identity.

A successful redesign project includes an overall strategy for your web app – which we’ll attempt to describe and explain in this article.

We’ll detail the steps to take for your website redesign project. These insights can be used as a reference document for your overhaul that you can send to your team or to an external service provider.

Who is your business?

Quite simply, start by describing your business in a few lines.

• What is its main activity and industry?
• How long has it been around?
• Who are the founders?
• How many people does it count among its team(s)?
• Where is it located?
• What is its turnover?
• Who are its clients, and what is their profile?
• How many clients does it have?

What products and services do you offer?

Clearly and succinctly describe the products and services you sell. For each product and service, specify:

• Its characteristics.
• Its advantages.
• How customers benefit from it.
• Duration of customer engagement: short term, long term.
• Recurrence rates.
• Production/activity costs.
• Profitability.

Who is your target audience? Who are your personas?

Who is your main target? Who is your core target? Who are your subscribers? Each target must be clearly and lucidly identified, as each group or profile will require a personalized communication action.

Below is a template of how you should go about describing your targets.

• How do you plan to approach your target in terms of B2B and B2C marketing and    communication?
• Will your areas of operation be limited at the local, regional or national level?
• What communication channels will you use, according to your targets?
• How can you work with your secondary targets in order to support your communication / marketing strategy?

Finish by answering the following questions, which can be very useful for stakeholders on your web app redesign project.

Main target

Your objective: “to introduce the product so they want to buy it”

The communication will be addressed to them as a priority.

The target has all the criteria to buy from you.

• What are their precautions or limitations?
• What are their motives?
• How many people make up the group?
• Where are they located?
• Their age ?
• Their social position?

Core target

The core target is a subset of the primary target.

A major part of the budget will be allocated to it.

They tend to be very exposed to your communication.

The core target represents the group with the highest purchasing potential.

Detail the same characteristics as for the main target.

Secondary target (or satellite)

This is the target of influence (networks, influencers, journalists, opinion leaders, etc.)

In the event that you have a low marketing budget, this group becomes the main target.

Detail the same characteristics as for the main target.

Who are your direct / indirect competitors?

List your direct and indirect competitors.

Your direct competitors are companies that offer the same products or services as you.

Your indirect competitors offer products or services that differ from yours, but still respond to the same user problem that your company responds to.

Competitive benchmarking is of paramount importance – it’s a question of why one consumer will choose you over another company?

Through benchmarking, you can assess the state of the competition in your market: analyze the best companies in the sector, its leaders, etc. This process will help you identify your weaknesses and improve your performance. You can also draw inspiration from the best practices of your competitors. You’ll make some progress.

Where are you with your current visual identity & communication?

What elements are currently working well that you may want to keep when redesigning?

Conversely, what are the points to review and greatly improve on?

Here we are. After a fairly quick but comprehensive inventory, let’s move on to what prompted you to embark on a redesign project in the first place.

In concrete terms – what will the redesign of your website be used for?

Identity

Are you going to change your identity? Your brand image?

• Expected result: your target(s) will perceive your brand differently. You will be more authentic and more attractive. You gain confidence and prestige.

Technical performance

Would you like to migrate to another technology? Are you going to work with a predefined architecture?

• Expected result: your site will be more efficient, which will increase the browsing satisfaction of your users. They will gain in comfort and ergonomics.

SEO

Are you going to strengthen or begin to implement a real SEO strategy? Do you want to work on your SEO in a new language (French, Spanish, etc.)?

• Expected result: you will increase quality traffic to your site, increasing the chances of being contacted by prospects interested in your offers.

Management and maintenance

What are your plans and expectations for the management and maintenance of your site? What process will you follow for regularly updating the pages? Creating new articles? Would you like to simplify this process or potentially bring in new employees or roles?

• Expected result: your site will gain visibility and SEO thanks to regular updates and the injection of new content. In the eyes of your users, your quality will increase because you will have an up-to-date and relevant site that reflects current events and seasonality.

Architecture

Are you planning to simplify your architecture? What will the main entry points be? Landing pages for conversions? Which pages will be directly available via the menu, and those available only from the footer? What will the typical user path be? When do they convert?

Map your existing architecture as well as the targeted architecture.

• Expected result: a clearer, more well-structured site that provides essential information to end users.

Redesign projects are the daily bread of our IT software development teams based in Vietnam, Madagascar and Mauritius. Have an overhaul that needs to be carried out? Let’s talk about it – let’s work together and follow your ideas!